Zombiepowder Lives
by eruditeMercury
Summary: After Gamma and Smith leave, Elwood journeys after them. Along the way, they encounter bounty hunters, savage criminals, and a plot that could change the fate of the world - and all their fates with it. Rated T for violence and language. Expect many OCs.
1. Won

Zombiepowder is awesome. I made a continuation.

... What do you mean, that was too short? Gah!

Anyways, this is said continuation. The second chapter will come around early June, and then expect no updates for a few weeks. I'm gonna be on vacation. :3 Chapter titles will be inspired by music, will be puns, or will have double meanings. See if you can find out which is which for each title.

And, lastly, Zombiepowder belongs to Tite Kubo. If it belonged to me, then this story would have been published by now. Which it hasn't. :p

* * *

**Won **

* * *

The silence in Gamma Akutabi's room was deafening. Elwood Shepherd looked around, taking in the empty bed and the note on the pillow. His eyes widened, and his mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Gamma," he whispered, reaching for the letter, then drawing back. "No... no, he promised..."

Elwood turned away, out of the room and down the hall of the Gemini lab, throwing Wolfina Getto's door open.

"Wolfina!" he cried, his footsteps echoing on the tile as he ran in. "Wolfina, Gamma—"

He stopped. Wolfina was sitting on her bed, back to him. She turned, a small smile on her lips.

"Is gone?" she finished for him. "Yeah, I knew. I uh... knew since last night, after Emilio's operation started." She shook her head, sighing, and her smile grew wider and more somber. "Gamma's a real idiot, isn't he?"

Elwood gritted his teeth, fury welling up inside. "He's not an idiot!" he shouted.

She paused. "That depends, I guess."

Elwood stared at her, eyes angry, then looked away. He said nothing.

"Sorry, El." She stood and walked to the door. "Emilio's operation is still going, and I promised that I would be with him when he woke up." She passed him, smiling slightly, and walked into the hall, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

He looked back as she left, then looked away again.

Gamma had told him so many times that it was his choice to keep going and find the Zombiepowder, or to go home and regret that he couldn't do anything for Sheryl. He had listened, and chosen to go, and tried to get stronger, and followed Gamma like a dog followed its master. He wanted to learn from Gamma. He wanted to be strong, and learn how to defend himself. Gamma was skilled in combat, an amazing warrior, and Elwood wanted to be like him. He wanted to fight like Gamma, and be just as good as him.

He _envied_ Gamma. He envied his strength, his power... and he wanted to be powerful like him, too...

... So he could bring Sheryl back.

Elwood looked up, only to find himself in Gamma's room, his feet unconsciously carrying him back to the bed and the letter. He reached out, gripping the paper and skimming over it.

It was a simple statement, just Gamma explaining that he had left with Smith and wasn't coming back. It said nothing about his whereabouts, or his plans. Elwood's mouth quirked as he turned it over, seeing nothing on the back. He set the paper back down and sighed quietly.

Just where the hell had he gone?

"Gamma..."

* * *

Wolfina waited outside the operating room, her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound of chainsaws revving and Nazna's assistants barking orders. There was a sickening _splash _of something, and she flinched. Her eyes drifted down the hall, eyebrows pinched together in thought.

_Dammit, how long is this gonna take?_ she thought as Nazna's voice carried into the hallway.

"Restrain him! Get cables, _now!_"

Another crash; more screams. Wolfina rested her head in her hands. Dear God... she just hoped Emilio would be safe...

Wolfina didn't know how long she waited outside the door. Maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour or two; it didn't make any difference, though, until the noises gradually faded. She raised her head and glanced behind her as the door cracked open and one of the maids walked out, covered in blood and limping slightly.

"You're Miss Getto?" she asked. Wolfina nodded. "Come with me. Master Nazna wants a word with you."

Wolfina followed the girl inside; the room was a wreck, covered in blood splatters and cracks along the walls. A hole had been blasted clean through the far wall, and the other maid was nursing a wound in the light that filtered through. The operating table in the center was undamaged, however, with Emilio's unconscious form sprawled over it. Wolfina's heart fell at the sight of her still-sleeping brother, but she brightened as Nazna Gemini looked up from where she was hunched over the table, gripping something in a pair of pliers. She studied Wolfina quietly, hair and face caked in blood, and smiled at her.

"My side of the deal's been paid, girl," she said, her voice hoarse. "Time for you to uphold your end."

Wolfina gave a quick glance to her brother. "But he's-"

Nazna cut her off by holding up the pliers. In-between the clamps was a small, heart-shaped ring thoroughly coated in blood. "He'll wake up in an hour or so," Nazna said, looking down at the boy as well and watching as he breathed evenly, his chest rising and falling with a steady pace. "That... _or he won't wake up at all._"

Wolfina opened her mouth, distraught, but Nazna waved a hand and chuckled. "You can never take a joke, can you? No, he'll be fine. I made a promise that I'd fix him till he was perfect, didn't I?"

Nazna shuffled away to the door, giving the pliers to Wolfina and taking care not to touch the Ring of the Dead between the clamps. Wolfina stared at the deadly object between her hands, then turned to Nazna. "And what am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

The woman turned, straightening the black battle dress that she wore. "Use your imagination," she muttered. "Now, let's get you fitted for a uniform, shall we, Miss Getto?"

* * *

Elwood stared out the window, blocking out the mindless chatter of the two maids next to him, Jian and Tasha. He picked at his food, barely noticing what was on his plate. The boy was already lost in thought. Elwood caught a few strains of the conversation, however; something about an asylum in a nearby town being destroyed and the residents moved. He listened for a few minutes before deciding that he didn't need to know about it, and returned to his thoughts. He heard the chairs scraping against the floor as the maids left. He knew his food was getting cold; he didn't feel like eating.

And then someone else came in, the heels of the uniform maid shoes clicking against the floor.

"I'm fine, Ms. Tasha. I don't need any..." Elwood looked away from the window and blinked when he saw Wolfina dressed in a maid's uniform, staring him down with arms crossed, carrying a small box in one hand.

"... What happened, Wolfina?"

Wolfina seemed to brighten; she smiled and laughed slightly. "Emilio's operation just finished, so Nazna had me... put this on..." The scowl returned as she glared at the frilly uniform that she wore. In spite of the overall identical clothing to the other maids, she wore her red ribbon in her hair as though it had never left. "... Anyway, she gave this to me," she shifted the package in her hand, holding it out to him, "and I thought you'd like to have it."

Elwood took the package and slipped it open, peeking inside. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the ring on a small cushion, glinting in the light and covered in dried blood. He snapped the box shut.

"What's wrong?" asked Wolfina. Elwood shook his head.

"I'm okay. Really," he said quickly, smiling.

Wolfina blinked at his sudden response, then relaxed, smiling widely. "That's good." She paused as she saw a brief expression of determination flicker over the boy's face as he stared at the box, then smiled again, softer. "You know..." she started, gaining Elwood's attention.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I won't stop you if you go after Gamma." Elwood's eyes widened, and Wolfina took a deep breath before continuing. "But... you be careful, okay? I don't want to be responsible for your death just because I told you that you could go. Okay?"

Elwood paused and pushed in his chair. Taking quick strides to where she stood, he reached out and hugged Wolfina, catching the girl by surprise.

"I promise," he whispered. Wolfina blinked again, her eyebrows dancing up to her hairline, but she immediately sobered and hugged the boy back. "I promise I'll come back, Wolfina."

She smiled. "I know."

* * *

Wolfina watched the next morning as Elwood's back disappeared down the road, walking over boulders and scuffing the red dirt with his heels. The sunrise began the slip over the horizon, silhouetting the boy as he continued his trek.

"He's a good kid," said a voice from behind her. Wolfina didn't even flinch as Nazna walked to her side and stared into the rising sun. "He won't die too soon."

"It's not him dying that I'm worried about. I know he'll live, but..." she said, trailing off.

Nazna shot her a sideways glance. "... But you're still worried."

Wolfina nodded. "... Yes."

The other woman sighed. "He's got a ring with him. You've effectively made him a walking target."

"I know. I was hoping that he could get to Gamma before... before someone..." Wolfina found herself unable to continue.

"Killed him."

"Yes."

Nazna lowered her gaze. "As long as I've known Gamma, he's never been one to find weak followers. Either he was betting on the boy's death, which I doubt, or he had faith that he would survive." She turned to Wolfina once more. "That kid's not going to die anytime soon, Miss Getto. You have my word on that."

Nazna turned to leave, but Wolfina turned as well. "Is Emilio-"

"Fine." Nazna said, turning once more. She was smiling. "He regained consciousness just a few minutes ago."

Wolfina's eyes widened. Her mouth opened just so slightly. "He... I..."

"I came to tell you that he wanted to see you. This way."

Wolfina followed, sparing one last glance to the window, searching for Elwood's back, but the boy was gone. And for once, Wolfina wasn't worried.

She had a brother to see.

* * *

A/N: Well, did you like it, love it, want more of it? If it was any of those three, then please review! If not... then there's nothing I can do. Sorry.


	2. Ignatius

A/N: Here is chapter two, after my long vacation away from a computer. This chapter marks the first OC in a long line of OCs, so please give me your feedback on him! If you want to know what he looks like, look very carefully at the top panel of the first chapter of Zombiepowder. He's the one with his back facing the reader, in the suede jacket. :)

Other than that, I really don't have much to say on this chapter other than that the characterization in the first part is less than perfect, so please disregard its incongruencies with the rest of the story. Thank you, and please remember to review!

Zombiepowder belongs to Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter Two

**Ignatius**

* * *

The streets of Azuli Town were all but deserted. The sun was gradually slipping lower on the horizon, though it had not set yet, and the citizens were closing up shop and chatting amongst themselves, save for one man.

He pulled the weekly newspaper over his eyes, skimming through the classifieds and bounties. The cigarette in his mouth twitched as he scowled. With a sigh of disgust, he lowered the paper, revealing tired leonine eyes under a mat of short auburn hair.

No new bounties. None of _his_ caliber, anyhow.

The man lowered his gaze and ran a hand over his face, slicking his hair back into a more manageable position. Taking the useless cigarette out of his mouth and putting it in the ashtray, his eyes turned to the road. He did a double take.

There was a kid. A goddamned _kid_ walking down the road to the rinky-dink little café that the man was sitting under the awning of. And he seemed really young, too. Barely fourteen. The man set his paper down and waved away the waiter who had come to take his order. He was focused solely on the kid; no interferences were needed. The kid finally seemed to notice he was being watched.

"... Can I help you?" he asked, glaring at the man.

He went right for the throat. No use sugar-coating. "What's a little kid like you doing in bounty hunter country at this hour?" said the man, his eyes practically boring into the kid's skull.

"I'm looking for someone," said the kid.

"What kind of someone?"

"I'm not required to say," said the kid, his eyebrows furrowing.

This kid was good.

The man smiled slightly. "Easy, tiger. Things around here just are a bit, ah, _strained_. You can never really tell an assassin from an ordinary bystander, can you?"

"I guess not," the kid replied, still stony-faced. "But if you're a bounty hunter, then you wouldn't have to worry much about assassins, would you?"

The man blinked. "How'd you know I was..." He glanced at the paper on the table next to him. Still open to the classifieds. "... Ah." He turned back to the kid, letting loose a catlike smile. "Perceptive, ain't ya, kid?"

The kid shrugged, looking away. "I guess..."

The man looked to the side, noticing that no one was around, before tearing his gaze back to the kid. "So... you need help finding someone? I can help... if you're willing, that is..." He extended a hand, and the kid looked at it warily, as though it would bite him. Clearly, he had learned to question a person's trustworthiness, possibly through experience, or through a mentor... Whoever taught this kid was experienced, no doubt about it.

But the kid gradually seemed to accept that he was being offered help, and slowly reached forward to take the outstretched hand. The man grinned. "Laith Ignatius, at your service. You?"

"Elwood," said the kid. "John Elwood Shepherd."

Ignatius smirked and released his hand from Elwood's. "Well, Mr. Shepherd... who is it you're looking for?"

Elwood opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. He couldn't give away the fact that he was looking for Gamma; not to a bounty hunter, no matter how friendly this Laith Ignatius seemed. He didn't glance at the paper to see another criminal's face; he knew that that would look suspicious. His best – no, his _only_ option was to lie. Lie, and do it convincingly.

If only he was a good liar.

"I don't remember his name, and I couldn't see his face well," he said at last, trying to look innocent. Ignatius raised his eyebrows.

"And _how _do you expect me to find this person if you have no idea who he is?" said Ignatius, his face taking on a deadpan expression.

"He passed through here last night. That's all I know."

Ignatius took one long look at Elwood, then sighed. "You know, I think I'm regretting making this deal with you."

"Even if you're the one who started it?" asked Elwood, a cold edge to his voice.

Ignatius shrugged.

Elwood was seriously ticked off at this point. But what else could he do? Wander aimlessly until he found Gamma? Until he was killed? He unconsciously gripped the fabric of the knapsack slung over his shoulder, feeling the Ring of the Dead through the coarse material. He sighed. It would be a gamble, but if he could just get this man to cooperate...

"The man I'm looking for is a Powder Hunter." he said in a rush, closing his eyes, because he knew the look in them would betray him. He clutched the Ring tighter as his ears met only silence.

And then the silence broke.

"... A 'Powder Hunter'?" asked Ignatius in his low baritone voice. Elwood nodded, still not daring to look. He finally opened his eyes, only to find Ignatius with a shocked, if not at least a small part ecstatic, expression on his face.

He gave a bark-like laugh, now smiling widely. "Kid, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Then... you'll be able to find him?" asked Elwood, blinking.

"Of course! It ain't everyday that a Powder Hunter walks through these parts, kid!" Ignatius stood, leaving a small amount of cash on the table for the waiter. "All we've gotta do is follow the trail of bodies those bastards leave behind, and we're good to go!"

* * *

They left the very next morning. Ignatius said it would be best to travel light, so he came out carrying only a pistol and a week's supply of food and water in a small bag over his back.

"We'll travel on foot," he explained as Elwood readied his bag. "There aren't any train stations around here, so it'll be easier and more convenient if we can look for traces of the guy on the road."

It made sense, but Elwood wasn't dropping his guard yet. It was way too early for that.

Though it was morning, the flat land of Azuli County was rapidly heating up; Elwood could see heat waves rising from the road as they walked. Cars passed by on the asphalt, blowing little whirlwinds at the side of the road. Elwood was constantly assaulted with heat, but Ignatius seemed used to it, walking with purpose and striding steps. Elwood had to run a couple times to keep up.

And they talked, here and there. Just simple questions.

"So. Where are you from?" Ignatius asked at one point.

"Blue Note," Elwood answered. "I lived there with my sister and my folks."

Ignatius turned and gave Elwood a look, towering over him by a foot or so. "And? What happened to make a kid like you come all the way out to Azuli? That's a full hundred miles away from your place."

Elwood was quiet for a bit, then looked away. Time to lie again. "Why do you think I'm looking for a Powder Hunter?" Even though he was lying (after all, the Powder Hunter he was looking for was a very unlikely man to kill an innocent family), Elwood couldn't help but think back to his sister, his parents...

Ignatius' silence came full force. "... I'm sorry, kid."

"Not your fault," Elwood whispered. He bit his lip, rubbing his face to get rid of the sand that made his eyes water and turn red. "It's not your fault," he repeated.

But Ignatius had already turned away.

* * *

They camped out by the side of the road that night, then set out again early in the morning. Ignatius once again walked ahead of Elwood, looking for any sign of tracks, corpses, or destroyed buildings. There were billboards for a nearby town (their next spot to search and possibly rest), all of which contained slogans like "Visit Leedon, the Diamond of Wistar! Only 3 miles away!"

3 miles later, they reached what could accurately be summed up as a ghost town.

Elwood looked around, staring at the empty saloons and run-down hotels around the main square. He could see shattered windows and broken-down doors amongst the wreckage inside the buildings, and what looked disturbingly like blood coating some of the street corners. Ignatius remained silent and stoic as always as they made their way through the rubble, then suddenly darted to one of the blood-caked curbs.

Elwood watched in apprehension as Ignatius ran his fingers through the blood, crumbling the dried particles between his thumb and forefinger. He frowned and stood, running his non-bloody hand through his hair.

"Well?" Elwood asked. Ignatius shook his head.

"This blood's a few days old, at _most_. We're lucky we got here when we did." He looked up, and his eyes widened well beyond their normal size. "Holy God..." he muttered, briskly walking straight ahead to a nearby alleyway.

"Hey!" Elwood called, running after the man. "Ignatius, wait up!"

The man maneuvered through planks of decaying wood, also bloodstained, until he reached the end of the alley, and then stopped full force, staring at the wall in horror. He heard Elwood's cries of "Wait for me!" behind him, but paid no heed. And soon, Elwood's footsteps faded into silence as they both saw the writing on the wall before them.

It was a face. A grinning smiley face stitched from ear to ear, with hollow, unfilled eyes, all drawn in blood. Below it was written "HELL BECKONS," also in blood, dripping and smearing down the wall.

From the looks of it, the blood was less than a day old.

Ignatius had seen many traumatic things in his life, but he still had to suppress a gulp as he continued to survey the symbol. He could almost hear Elwood shuddering behind him, and turned swiftly, signaling for the boy to follow. Elwood did so without complaint.

They left the ghost town of Leedon quicker than they had arrived, and never once looked back.

* * *

The day's search had turned out fruitless, even with their grizzly discovery, but if Ignatius was anything, it was persistent. "In my line of work," he explained, "you've gotta learn to keep going. Because if you keep going, you get paid." He turned to Elwood, sitting by the campfire in their small campsite far away from the ruins of Leedon. "And when you get paid, you have money to spend on booze and smokes."

Elwood blinked. "You drink?"

"And smoke, yeah. Got a problem with that?"

Memories of being burned by Kinqro Mujata's cigar flashed through Elwood's mind as Ignatius took out a fresh smoke and stuck it in his mouth, giving Elwood a pointed look. He took out a lighter from his bag.

"... I'd like it if you didn't," Elwood said right as the lighter reached the smoke. Ignatius rolled his eyes and extinguished the lighter, but kept the cigarette in his mouth.

Suddenly he fell back onto the roadside with a thump, and Elwood started. But the man hadn't fallen; he merely reclined on the earth and stared up at the stars. Elwood peered down at him curiously; the man gave him that look again.

"... What?" he asked.

"Just wondering," said Elwood. "Why did you wanna become a bounty hunter?"

Ignatius cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Because you know why I'm here, but I don't know why you agreed to help me. It's only fair, right?"

Ignatius paused, then sighed deeply. "You're kind of annoying, kid."

"I get told that a lot," Elwood deadpanned, earning a smile from Ignatius. The man looked away, the cigarette twisting around in his mouth in thought before he spoke.

"I wasn't able to save someone I cared about, and I want to make it up to her," he said soberly. He turned to Elwood, his face impassive. "Does that answer your question, kid?"

Elwood blinked, but didn't look away. "Yeah, actually."

Ignatius looked at him for a few moments, then turned away. What they had found earlier that day was gory and nothing that the kid needed to see, but he was still asking questions and trying to _bond_ with him, goddammit! Just what had this kid seen that made him immune...

... Oh. His sister.

Ignatius turned over on the ground, spitting out his cigarette and not caring where it landed. The kid would get tired soon anyway, and they would both need sleep. The bounty hunter closed his eyes, breathing deeply and evenly, and trying not to let his mind wander to the symbol on the side of the building. It seemed familiar, almost... Just like... A flash of silver entered his mind for a brief instant before he pushed it away, trying to get to sleep.

The sound of quiet snores filled the air, and Elwood perked up on his cot, looking behind him in the fading firelight to see the Ignatius sleeping on his side, still as death if it were not for the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. He stared for a moment before lying back down again and closing his eyes.

* * *

The sun rose high the next day, and stayed there. It was balmy by the time the two set out, and Elwood was suffering under his heavy-duty clothing. Ignatius, despite wearing a dark brown, heat-absorbing suede jacket, seemed to be suffering no ill effects of the hot weather. They reached a small town by noon, but found all the residents to be holed up in the buildings; news of the Leedon slaughter passed quickly, and it was something that no one wanted to speak of.

Their search, however, turned up no results. Elwood was beginning to get worried. What if Gamma hadn't really gone this way? This was all some wild goose chase, and the two of them were just going to wander aimlessly through this desert wasteland until they were killed by the same people who destroyed Leedon. He shook his head, trying to clear it of those thoughts, and found that he couldn't.

They came to the town of Nicola Delta (a coffee shop in said town, to be exact) a little after noon to rest and find leads. Ignatius went outside to smoke, leaving Elwood alone in the shop with a glass of iced coffee.

Elwood looked around the shop and sat down in an empty armchair. He sighed and rested his head on his hand, staring out a nearby window and occasionally looking at the other customers. A flash of light brown caught his eye, and he turned towards it, hoping beyond hope that he would see a spot of silver sitting beside it...

It was just a leather armchair, shining dully in the sunlight.

Disappointed, Elwood turned back to the window. Ignatius was still outside, and Elwood was beginning to get tired from the vast amount of walking they had done for the past three days. His eyes started to close... the sunlight coming through the window was really warm... it was making him sleepy...

"Elwood!"

"Fishpaste!" Elwood screamed, wide awake, and found himself staring straight into a pair of bespectacled brown eyes. Elwood's jaw dropped as he realized who he was staring at.

"Fish paste? That's a bit unusual to dream about, hm?" said the man, smiling widely and moving back to a more comfortable position on the armchair opposite Elwood. "... Elwood, why are you looking at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears?"

"Mr. Smith!" Elwood cried, sitting upright in his chair and just barely refraining from hugging C. T. Smith in a room full of bystanders. "What're you doing here? Where's Gamma? Are you guys okay? Did you see what happened to Lee-"

"Slow down, slow down!" Smith said, holding up his hands and smiling shyly. "Both of us are here to rest for now; outside somewhere; yes, we're fine; and yes, we went through Leedon." His smile vanished into an expression of mild disgust. "Not exactly pretty, was it?"

"No, I thought you guys were goners! We didn't see you at all when we came here!" Elwood gushed, grinning, but Smith suddenly held up a hand. Elwood frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Who's 'we'?" asked Smith. Elwood quirked his mouth in confusion.

"I came here with a bounty hunter who said he could help me find Gamma. He's right out-"

BANG!

Elwood and Smith jumped in their seats, as well as the rest of the coffee shop. Screams came from the street. Smith stood up and looked out the window, Elwood following suit.

"... Oh, dear. This can't be good," Smith murmured, and Elwood suddenly saw why.

Circling each other in a predatory staredown was Laith Ignatius, pistol drawn and still smoking, and Gamma Akutabi, his sword unpacked from its bag.

"There's Gamma," Smith said quickly, turning to Elwood and smiling once again. "Does that answer all your questions?"

* * *

A/N: So there you have it. Next chapter, it's Ignatius vs. Gamma! Please review if you have the time!

And thanks to Tat, whose review I could not respond to due to the fact that he or she does not have an account. Thank you, Tat, for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

Here's a little info about Ignatius for those who care to know. His first name means lion in Arabic, I think (online name list, so it's very likely innacurate), and he shares his last name with Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who became a martyr after being eaten alive by lions. How ironic.

**Laith Ignatius**

**Age: 24  
Date of Birth: August 27th  
Height: 6' 0" (about 182 cm)  
Weight: 143 lbs (about 64 kg)  
Blood type: B  
****Education: High-school level  
Place of Birth: Santa Teresa, Bexiao **

**Has auburn hair (reddish-brown, for those who don't know) and gold eyes. Likes the color red. His favorite food is olives, and his least favorite foods are polenta (pan-fried cornmeal) and anpan (bread filled with red bean paste). He is a chain smoker, and took up the habit after a traumatic event in his past. He likes beer, wearing long sleeves, and walking long distances. He dislikes annoying clients (Elwood is on this list, unfortunately) and Powder Hunters.  
**


	3. Little White Lie

A/N: **ETA: **I rewrote a lot of this chapter to make the middle part flow easier. Hopefully, this solves some of the crappiness that was there when this was first published. Also, this is the point where the language starts to get kind of... foul. Heh heh... sorry, but I blame Gamma's reappearance.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please remember to review!

Zombiepowder belongs to Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter 3

**Little White Lie **

* * *

Ignatius lit the cigarette in his mouth and flicked the lighter shut. He glanced to the side, seeing Elwood sitting down at the coffee shop, and faced forward again. He was beginning to doubt his reasons for bringing the kid along.

Sure, he had needed help to find a Powder Hunter, but Ignatius had long since relinquished his interest in Powder Hunter cases. Was it because the kid was a _kid_? Younger than the other clients he had had? Whatever the reason, Ignatius knew that he pitied him for some reason, be it his youth, his story... hell, maybe it was just the frigging _look _in the kid's eyes that managed to bring out his sympathy. He sighed and took a long drag, exhaling the smoke into a gray cloud.

"Sympathy's useless and overrated," as his old man had said once. "This world ain't got no sympathy, or empathy, or any of that kiddie stuff you read in nursery rhymes. Our world ain't pretty, son. Humans are bastards, and they ain't never gonna change. Ya might as well remember that."

Ignatius had remembered. He had changed a lot from the naïve little kid that dreamed of being an astronaut, and he had never looked back once.

"_Why did you wanna become a bounty hunter?"_

He snorted at the question, now. He was a bounty hunter because he was. Plain and simple. He had made it his craft, and done it well. He did it for himself...

"_I wasn't able to save someone I care about, and I want to make it up to her."_

To make it up to Meena...

Ignatius paused mid-thought. Could he... was he doing this just so he could get revenge? Not for the cases that he took, but honest-to-God, for his own gain? So he could find _that bastard_ and make him bleed for what he did to Meena, right in front of his own eyes, no less?

He sighed again, removing the cigarette from his mouth and opening his closed eyes, flicking the ashes onto the ground. He looked up, preparing to put the cigarette back in his mouth, and stopped cold.

Silver. Nothing but silver. Glinting and catching the light of the sun like nothing else did, like quicksilver, like flames caught in moonlight before they flared crimson in the night sky, and yet like neither. Blood. Screams. Rushing terror. Eyes of darkest green, dull and lifeless, living only for the next kill. Ignatius had seen those eyes firsthand.

There was too much silver. Too much.

Discarding his cigarette, he reached into his gun holster and retrieved his pistol, firing a single shot at the silver that clouded his vision. A bang, clouds of smoke, the sound of something falling to the ground, Ignatius hoping beyond all hope that he had done it and killed the bastard once and for all; disappointment filled his bloodlust-hazed mind as he noticed that it was a sword that had fallen, unpacked from its bag, and not the corpse of Meena's killer.

Sure enough, the man stood tall, eyes flaring green, gripping the sword's hilt amongst the chaos as citizens of Nicola Delta ran to safer places, and not moving an inch, staring at the equally immobile bounty hunter across from him.

Ignatius growled in fury, drawing his pistol once more at Gamma Akutabi. "You son of a bitch, I'll kill you!"

* * *

Elwood and Smith were outside the coffee shop in a second, barely dodging the moving sea of people trying to get away from the fight. The two were parrying back and forth now, Ignatius firing and Gamma blocking, Gamma swinging his blade and catching little more than the sleeve of Ignatius' jacket.

"Gamma!" Elwood called, and the man turned mid-swing.

"Elwoo- agh!" Gamma was knocked to the side by a punch from Ignatius but righted himself instantly, skidding backward towards Smith and Elwood, at turning to the latter. "What're you doing here?"

"He says a bounty hunter brought him here," Smith said, his face in a mildly serious expression for once.

Gamma paused, then looked back at Elwood. "Lemme guess," he deadpanned, pointing behind him. "It's that guy?"

Elwood nodded. "Pretty much."

Gamma paused again, then straightened up from his slouched posture and sighed. "Elwood, I appreciate you coming all this way, but for future reference, I don't get along well with bounty hunters, the military, and/or the owner of most of the fast-food restaurants in Wistar State. Mm-kay?"

Elwood scoffed. "How was I supposed to know that?"

"I told you about the bounty hunter thing after that one battle outside the music store with those... those two guys. Remember?"

"If you don't, then how should I?"

"Um... guys? He can hear everything you're saying," Smith said, taking notice of the still-furious Ignatius now aiming his pistol at Gamma's back. The two of them turned to face the bounty hunter, Gamma immediately settling back into a fighting stance.

"Smith, get Elwood out of here. I'll handle this guy," Gamma said, gripping the sword's handle.

"You sure you want to do that?" Smith asked, glancing at Ignatius. "This guy seems to have a grudge against you, for whatever reason."

"I can take him." He glanced at Smith. "Do you doubt me, Smith?"

"No, not at all... Elwood? What's up?"

Elwood was staring intently at Ignatius, his mouth drawn into a frown.

Ignatius had taken the case of a kid like him because he wanted to make it up to someone who he couldn't protect... he had called Powder Hunters as a collective 'bastards,' which made it obvious that he hated them... and Gamma in particular...

Gamma must have done something terrible to him...

"Gamma," Elwood said, and the man's gaze turned to him. "... Do you recognize him at all?"

The man turned away, as if in thought, then looked back at Smith. They exchanged a glance, then turned back to Elwood.

Both of them shook their heads.

"... What do you mean, you don't recognize him?" Elwood cried, before the sound of a gunshot whizzed past his ear and hit the side of a nearby building, just missing Gamma. He turned; Ignatius' gun was still smoking.

"Gamma Akutabi," he growled. "I'm sick of this crap. Get over here so I can kill you, and I'll make it nice and quick."

Gamma raised an eyebrow. "I don't know him, but it seems he thinks otherwise. Any ideas?"

Smith frowned, deep in thought. "Gamma, maybe this man is from before you and I teamed up."

Elwood's eyes widened slightly. Before they teamed up? "What does that have to do with this?" he asked.

Gamma ignored Elwood's question and turned to Smith, eyes narrowed. "What're ya talking about?"

"I mean, you can't remember him, I've never seen him before, and he seems to want to kill you (not that that's uncommon)," Smith muttered. His eyes shifted to Gamma's. "You must've killed a friend of his-" Smith looked to Ignatius, who was reloading his pistol and watching him intently, "-and now he wants revenge." He turned to Elwood. "That _is_ the scenario, I'm guessing?"

Elwood nodded hesitantly. "He said someone important to him was killed, and that's why he became a bounty hunter."

"And how do you know that?" Gamma barked.

"Because he told me," Elwood said, eyebrows drawing together. "And he hates Powder Hunters; he's made that clear enough now, hasn't he?"

Gamma paused for a moment, then looked away and sighed. "Yeah. Right." He gripped his sword's handle and went into a fighting stance once more. "Then I guess I'll just have to knock it into this guy's head that I'm not gonna be dying any time soon."

"Wait, Gamma-" Elwood called, but the Powder Hunter was already rushing at Ignatius, blade outstretched. The sword swung over Ignatius' head as he ducked and rolled out of the way, shooting at Gamma. Gamma deflected the bullet with his armored hand, taking another swing at the man on the ground, who jumped and skidded backwards, out of the way of the sword. Another swing over Ignatius' head; the bounty hunter ducked and skidded backwards.

"What's wrong?" Gamma asked. "Staying on the defensive, are you?"

Ignatius' eyes narrowed.

A shot rang out, and Gamma's sword flew out of his hand, his eyes widening. His head whipped to the fallen sword, and suddenly felt himself hit the pavement from a hit to his back. Ignatius' foot slammed into his back; he could feel a pistol at his head.

"Defensive, my ass," Ignatius said, clenching his teeth.

Gamma blinked in his facedown position. He was gonna die like _this_? Caught off-guard with a gun by his head? He could hear Elwood screaming, what sounded like Smith reassuring him. Good. At least Smith thought he'd be okay.

... Thought?

Like hell.

Gamma knocked the gun away with his left hand, catching Ignatius off guard enough to let his foot go, and leapt up, smacking the bounty hunter in the face with a right hook and knocking him backwards several feet. In a swift motion, he grabbed his sword from behind him, spun around, and pinned Ignatius' right sleeve to the pavement; he fell with a loud, final-sounding thud.

The bounty hunter was panting from overexertion and the force of Gamma's punch as the Powder Hunter leaned in, a scowl on his face.

"I don't know what I did that's pissed you off so much, but I warn you: you try and mess with me, and I'll have you going the same way as whoever it is I killed. Take that as a warning," he hissed. Gamma picked up his sword and swung it over his shoulder when a shout came from Ignatius, sitting on the dirt.

"You're saying you don't even remember her?" he roared. "How can you forget someone you've killed with your own hands?"

Gamma stopped mid-step, turning to face Ignatius. "I was a different man then. In every sense of the word." He didn't stop to watch Ignatius' eyes widen; he walked to Smith and Elwood, and turned to the latter. "Thanks for the info, Elwood. I appreciate you coming back." Elwood could have sworn he saw the tiniest smile on Gamma's face before the Powder Hunter walked away, gesturing for the two of them to follow.

But Elwood didn't follow.

He ran up to Ignatius instead, grabbing his gun from the ground and handing it to the bounty hunter slumped in defeat. Those golden eyes looked up into his own for a minute before Ignatius gently took the pistol and put it into its holster, standing shakily. He looked down at Elwood carefully, his mouth in a thin line.

"You lied to me," he said, without any definite emotion.

Elwood looked away, then back up. "Yeah. It was the only thing I could have done to keep Gamma from getting arrested." He paused. "You're not going to arrest him, right?"

Ignatius shrugged. "The thought has crossed my mind. But..." he spared a glance to Gamma, talking to Smith and arguing with him, though their words were muted by the distance. "... It really seems he can't remember anything. I dunno what the hell happened, but... I dunno." He sighed and turned to Elwood. "If I ever learn that he remembers, I won't hold back. Tell him that."

Elwood nodded. "... I'm still surprised you don't hate me for lying to you, frankly."

"Meh. I don't judge people by whether they lie or not. Just tell him what I said, okay?"

"I will. Hey, Ignatius?"

"Eh?"

"Thanks," Elwood said.

The bounty hunter blinked and looked away. "No problem... your friend's waiting for you, Elwood. You'd better go."

Elwood turned; sure enough, Gamma and Smith were waiting for him at the exit to Nicola Delta's main square. Just the sight of the two of them was enough to get him running to the exit.

"Bye, Ignatius!" he called, running to the two of them. The bounty hunter waved awkwardly as the boy's back disappeared beside the white and brown coats on either side of him and the three faded into the light of the afternoon sun.

* * *

People began to open up their windows and doors again, walking out into the street like nothing ever happened and ignoring Ignatius, slightly bloodstained and still leaning against a building. He was staring at the clouds, deep in thought, thinking about the battle, the kid, and nothing in particular.

Or, maybe...

He found his thoughts turning to Meena. Her smile, her laugh, the way she looked at him when he said something morbid: that weird half-glare, half sad look, and the way she brightened when he offered to take her out to ice cream. Long brown hair, blue eyes, a kind smile...

He'd never be able to forgive Gamma Akutabi for taking her life. Never. The man in the brown coat? He didn't even know him, so how could he hold a grudge, forgive him, or anything?

But the kid?

... He didn't really have to forgive him.

He had lied, yes, but lying was natural. Little white lies were not necessarily bad; Ignatius knew that the kid hadn't intended to deceive him, just tried to help his friend. _As if that bastard could have friends_, his mind said, but he pushed it away. For now, he could forgive lying. He could forgive Elwood.

But a part of him, a steadily growing part, could only register one fact about the kid that the rest of him was trying to deny: the smile that the kid had given him as he left had looked almost identical to Meena's.

And it was enough to know that John Elwood Shepherd was not necessarily a bad person; he was still one who could be forgiven. Time would only tell if Elwood would earn that forgiveness.

Or, Ignatius' fears warned him, live long enough to know he was forgiven.

Ignatius pulled a cigarette out of his bag and lit it, taking a long drag. He looked down, and realized that he was in the exact same position as he was in this morning, waiting for Elwood to come out of the coffee shop, before this whole mess started.

And for the first time in a long time, Laith Ignatius laughed.

* * *

A/N: That's that. Not my best chapter, but the next one is the start of the main plot! Yay! There will be three or more new characters next time, which might be a bit hard to keep up with, and the chapter is gonna be pretty long, which means it might take a bit longer to write than the others. Aside from that, if you enjoyed the chapter, please review! If you didn't, constructive criticism is always appreciated! Thank you!


	4. The Primary 3

A/N: This chapter is basically one big steamy pile of EXPOSITION. Not that that's a bad thing, but it is rather long, for my chapters. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this length up. It came out in a shorter timeframe than I expected, mostly because I _really_ wanted to get to this point; from here on, there will most likely be higher-quality chapters. :) I also used some terms from the official Viz release of Zombiepowder in this chapter, because it's translated really, really well, and I highly recommend it.

The chapter title references the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow, all of which are physical characteristics of the new characters. You can find all three of them on the first page of Zombiepowder, chapter one.

Zombiepowder belongs to Tite Kubo.

* * *

Chapter 4

**The Primary 3**

* * *

The canyons near the town of Duna were growing dark as night set in over the valley. All was silent, save for the gentle rustling of scrub bushes and distant pine trees, and the nearly silent whirring of delicate machinery as a pair of red eyes looked out over the passage between the plateaus.

"You see anything?" a voice asked, low and growling.

A shake of the head. Nothing yet.

"Hmm... not like there'd be many people out at this hour, though." another said.

The red-eyed one didn't answer, merely extending her sight to the far edge of the valley. Those red eyes widened as the mechanical whirring grew louder, and three flashes of light shimmered in iridescent colors on the inside of a pair of spectacles.

"Boys," said the red-eyed one. "Targets sighted."

"How many?"

The red eyes turned to the source of the lights, invisible to the naked eye. "Three of them among three people. One Ring each."

"Great," said the growling voice, its owner flexing his gloved hands and cracking his knuckles. "Easy pickings."

"Seems that way," said the second speaker, smiling slightly and clipping a small white bracelet to his left wrist.

Their red-eyed companion pulled a pistol out of its holster, loading in a new clip. "Shall we, boys?"

"Oh, we shall."

* * *

Gamma, Elwood and Smith slowly made their way through the canyon path, trudging and (in Elwood's case) kicking at the red dirt. Nightfall was on its way, fast, and there was little time to get to Duna for some rest, per Gamma's plan.

In all honesty, Gamma was a tad bit disturbed about the day's earlier events, but he wasn't going to dwell on it, nor voice his opinions aloud. Not yet. He looked around, contemplating the fading sunset and gradually approaching stars.

Smith suddenly stiffened beside Elwood; Gamma could see him out of the corner of his eye, and he was positive that Elwood could feel his sudden change in posture.

"Mr. Smith?" Sure enough. "What's wrong?"

Gamma followed Smith's trained gaze to the plateau closest to them, and managed to catch a flash of what looked like white plaster before a gigantic rock came hurtling at them.

"Run!" he cried, darting out of the way and pulling on Elwood's wrist, taking the boy with him. They hit the side of the canyon, hard.

"Ow!" Elwood shouted in pain. "What was that for?"

"I was saving your life. Deal with it." Gamma grabbed his sword, ran forward and joined Smith as he fired at their attacker, the blows barely missing against the rock as gunshots rained down.

"You might want to get out of the way," he said to the sharpshooter, who nodded and backed up slightly, still firing. "Karinzanjutsu Long-range Attack: Fukuryuuhou!" A snake of black fire erupted along Gamma's arm and climbed up his outstretched sword before it blasted into the side of the plateau with a resounding thud. He flicked his arm to the side and the flames away, and watched for any movement.

A hand hesitantly rose up from the top of the cliff, waving a white bracelet like a flag. The hand's owner slowly rose up, a young-looking man with blonde hair, a wide-brimmed hat, and stubble on his chin. He was grinning like an idiot, his eyes squinted almost shut.

"Truce!" he called in a lilting voice that, irritatingly enough, sounded similar to Smith's.

Gamma raised an eyebrow. "... Eh?"

"Truce!" the man called again. "You're a Powder Hunter, right? Sorry 'bout that, we didn't mean to intrude!"

"It's no problem!" Smith called, an eerily similar grin on his face as hearts quite literally floated around him. Gamma and Elwood recoiled slightly.

"Awesome!" said the blonde man. He turned to look behind him, and seemingly called to the others on the plateau. "Hey, guys! It's just a couple Powder Hunters and their pre-teenage sidekick!"

Elwood bristled at that, running beside Gamma to get a closer look at his tormentors. "I'm not their sidekick!"

"I digress," said a voice, loud enough to be heard without yelling, and the young man stopped waving the bracelet. A woman, slim yet muscular, approached behind him; her hair was dark blue and wavy, and she stared down at Gamma and the others with eyes hidden behind red-tinted sunglasses.

Following closely behind was a tall man, red hair pulled back in a short ponytail, with eerie yellow eyes that stared past Elwood and Smith, towards Gamma.

"Gamma Akutabi?" he asked.

Gamma nodded, eyebrows knitting together. "Who wants to know?"

"Koren Shalko," the man said. "These two are Estin Haile," he gestured to the blonde man, whose eyes were now open and revealed to be a dark blue, "and Naroia Altair." The woman nodded solemnly, and Koren turned his attention to Smith and Elwood. "You'd better get up here. There's a path along the east side that's easy to use. We need to talk to all three of ya as soon as possible."

He turned, Naroia following suit and Estin waving one last time before walking after her, hot on her heels.

Everyone on the valley floor blinked.

"Well, uh... that was..." Elwood started to say, before Smith set off at a brisk pace, motioning for the others to follow. "Mr. Smith, where're you going?"

Smith turned, grinning. "They gave us an invitation, so come on! Let's go!" The next thing Gamma or Elwood knew, Smith was running (with a definitive skip in his step) to the eastern side of the canyon.

Elwood turned to Gamma, frowning. "I think Mr. Smith's lost it," he muttered.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Gamma said, striding after Smith, Elwood following without a word.

* * *

The hike up the canyon was long and tiring, but they reached the summit before nightfall. The other three were waiting for them, a campsite already made with large boulders surrounding it for shelter from prying eyes, at such an angle that they were invisible to anyone in the valley. There were bullet holes through many of them, and Gamma suddenly realized that these guys had been prepared for the worst, be it by bounty hunters or otherwise.

Koren sat by the lit campfire in the center, watching as the three of them walked closer. Estin was standing beside one of the boulders casually, smiling with his eyes half-open. He looked more devious that way, and it wasn't a look that Gamma liked.

Naroia stood off to the side, beside Estin, watching them. She looked away, not making eye contact. Gamma could have sworn he himself had made that look within the past 24 hours.

"So?" Gamma asked, turning to Koren as Smith and Elwood scanned the campsite. "You wanted to talk to us?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Estin stood, catching the trio's attention and walking up to Gamma, reaching out to shake his hand. "From one group to another, we need some intel. And if you wouldn't mind, we'd like your input, Black-Armed Shinigami."

Gamma sighed and shook his hand. "Just Gamma's fine." The man smiled at his armored arm for a moment before breaking away and gesturing for them to follow.

They sat down next to the campfire, Gamma across from Koren, Elwood to his left, beside Naroia, and Smith to his right, beside the still-eerily similar Estin. Koren was staring intently at Gamma; the look alone was enough to make him uneasy.

"Alright, enough beating around the bush. What're you after?" said Gamma.

"As Estin said, information," Koren said. "Shall we go with the standard protocol?"

Gamma narrowed his eyes; he could feel Smith stiffening beside him; Elwood was looking around, still confused at the words "standard protocol," which Gamma knew all too well was a way for Powder Hunters to make peace by showing off their Rings of the Dead. His experiences with the ritual had usually ended in bloodshed due to the other party's hostility.

"How did you know?" Gamma asked. Everyone's eyes turned to Naroia as she tapped the side of her sunglasses.

"These glasses detect the presence of the Rings of the Dead, and allow me to find any within range," she said in a low voice. "If it makes you feel any safer about this..." She reached into the blue jumpsuit she was wearing and pulled out a small box.

Gamma eyed the box, watching as Naroia carefully undid the latch, making sure not to touch the box's contents. Sure enough, lying in the center was a small silver ring, the stone a green leaf-like shape. Naroia gave an expectant look to Gamma, who sighed and retrieved a small bag from his coat, tossing it at his feet. Smith reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a wadded-up handkerchief, depositing it gently beside Gamma's bag.

Naroia's eyes turned to Elwood, and the others followed. The boy blinked, shocked at the sudden attention. "... What?"

"If you would, please take the Ring out of your backpack and place it beside those of your teammates," Naroia said. Elwood blinked, then did as the woman said, albeit hesitantly.

Gamma's eyes widened slightly as Elwood removed the Ring from his backpack, in a box that could only have belonged to Wolfina. He bit his lip and looked away at the thought of her as Naroia appraised their items.

Naroia gave the hidden Rings a long look before nodding, taking up her box, and placing it back inside the jumpsuit pocket; Gamma's group did the same, and the atmosphere of the gathering suddenly lightened.

"So, who wants candy?" Estin piped up, running towards a backpack strewn against one of the rocks. Koren suddenly stiffened and whipped his head around to yell at his partner.

"Get outta my secret stash, Estin!"

"Make me, carrot top!"

"I swear, if you take any of those lollypops-" Koren leapt up and ran after Estin, leaving Gamma's party sitting confused by the campfire. Naroia noticed their confused expressions and smiled just slightly.

"Koren has a bit of an addiction to sweets, and Estin often calls him out on it," she said. "Don't worry, things will simmer down soon."

"Give it!"

"Only if you let me have a jujube!"

"Doesn't that get a bit annoying?" Gamma asked.

"Aw, I think quirks like that are more interesting than annoying," Smith said. "How do you think I put up with you falling asleep on trains?"

"Yeah, Gamma. What about that?" Elwood snickered.

"That was the one time!" Gamma roared, looking away and pouting. He could see Naroia covering her hand to mask her laughter. "What?"

"Only the look on your face," she said, smiling. Gamma sighed and stood up.

"Well, I'm gonna go stretch my legs, if you don't mind." He walked off, still trying to block out the constant banter between Koren and Estin, before turning back to Naroia. "... Could you get them to shut up?" he asked her; she nodded slightly and cleared her throat.

"Children!" Naroia shouted, causing the arguing men to grow silent and everyone on the canyon (including a very mortified Gamma) to jump. "... Now, are you two going to share those sweets, or will I have to confiscate them?"

"No, ma'am," both men answered.

"Good." She looked up and noticed Gamma's party staring at her intently. "What is it?"

"That was so cool," Elwood breathed. Gamma's footsteps echoed into the distance as the boy gravitated towards Naroia, paying no attention as Smith approached Koren and Estin.

Naroia paused, then smiled slightly. "I suppose. With those two, it's something I've learned to perfect."

"Could you teach me?" Elwood asked.

"Teach you?"

"Yeah! I mean, Gamma never teaches me any of his cool moves, and whatever you did looks easy enough, so... could you?"

Naroia seemed to think this over for a moment. "... I suppose..."

"Yes!" Elwood shouted, punching his fist in the air.

"-However," Naroia interjected, and Elwood fell silent. "... What I'm about to teach you is a secret technique of the utmost potency. You cannot tell _anyone_ else. _Understand_?"

Elwood nodded, eyes wide.

"Good. As long as we're clear," Naroia quipped. "Now... you're going to need to see the look in my eyes for this..." She reached up and removed her glasses, and Elwood stiffened at the color of her eyes in the light of the campfire...

* * *

"And then, he just goes and takes the lollypop right out of my hand! Do you know how irritating that is?"

"Pretty irritating," Smith said, smiling.

"Definitely," Estin said, smirking as he twisted Koren's stolen lollypop around in his fingers.

"Shut the hell up, Haile. Didn't you say you wanted jujubes, anyway?" Koren growled around the lollypop in his mouth.

"Yes, but..."

"You lied?" Smith finished for Estin.

"Yeah, I totally did! How'd you know?"

"I guess I'm just psychic!"

The two of them collapsed into fits of laughter, and Koren rolled his eyes and looked away, noticing Gamma, who was sitting far away from the meet-up that the others seemed to be taking as a party, though still inside the ring of boulders. Koren approached him, nonchalantly sliding onto the spot beside him.

"Yo," he said.

"Hi," Gamma answered, looking at him strangely.

There was an awkward pause before Koren handed Gamma an unwrapped lollypop from his pocket. "Want one?"

Gamma stared him down again before hesitantly taking the candy. "Thanks...?"

"No problem."

They sat there for another long pause, Koren sucking on his lollypop, before Gamma broke the silence.

"I guess you saw what happened to Leedon if you're taking all these precautions."

"What?" Koren asked. "What precautions?"

"The boulders around this campsite," he murmured. "You're trying to keep anyone from seeing inside, aren't you?"

There was another pause. Koren sighed. "As a matter of fact, yeah. Specifically an unnamed third party."

"Not the military, surely," Gamma laughed. Koren chuckled slightly.

"Like hell." He glared right into Gamma's eyes, yellow meeting dark green with startling clarity. "I've heard stories about you, Akutabi. The reason you grafted that nasty piece of work onto your arm; the reason you're hanging out with that carbon copy of Estin over there; even who you managed to escape from on that night eight years ago." The last comment made Gamma stiffen; his eyes narrowed in a mixture of fury and revulsion.

"What about it?" he snarled.

"I'm not saying what I've heard is true, but... you honestly didn't think I wouldn't notice? Right before you went through Leedon, the town had been massacred. Afterwards, that mark appeared on the side of one of the buildings." Another, longer pause that only intensified the tension between the two men. "I told you we needed to talk, and now we are... You're in leagues with those bastards, aren't you... Akutabi?"

* * *

"This technique's been used by my family for years," Naroia said, replacing her sunglasses. "My great-grandfather was its inventor; my grandfather perfected it. You can still find a the ruins of a small city near Leedon that surrendered just because my grandfather refused to quit scolding them."

Elwood's eyes sharpened. "Leedon... Miss Naroia..."

"I assume you're going to ask about the massacre, then," Naroia murmured suddenly.

"Yeah... what happened there, anyway? I could never really get that marking on the side of one of the buildings."

Naroia's mouth twitched. "... How can I explain this..."

"You don't have to."

"No, I answer truthfully to any of my allies' questions, no matter the duration of my relationship with that ally," Naroia answered. She sighed and locked eyes with Elwood. "That marking is the symbol of an anti-Powder Hunter organization known as the Grinning Revengers."

Elwood blinked. "The Grinning... Revengers? Is that even a word?"

"By their logic, yes," Naroia answered. "The Revengers exist only to gain power. Insanity has no downsides for them; in fact, it's encouraged. To gain this power, or by their logic, the Rings of the Dead and Zombiepowder, they kill. They take as many lives as possible to fuel the Rings, and try to gain what no user of Zombiepowder has ever gained. Immortality beyond immortality. Godhood."

* * *

"Are you serious?" Gamma hissed. "Me, allied with those lunatics? What the hell gave you that idea?"

"I already gave you my reasons. Now answer my question."

"I'm not their goddamn ally... What's with these accusations, anyway? I thought this was supposed to be a truce!"

Koren was silent, before he held up a gloved hand. "You see these gloves, Akutabi? One false move, one slip of the tongue, and with these babies, I can give you a punch that'll send you halfway to Sunday."

"Oh, so now you're threatening me?" Gamma roared, trying to stay at decent volume so as not to attract attention. "Just what do you want?"

"I want to know just one thing." Koren's expression was one of sheer fury. "And you're gonna tell me."

* * *

"Godhood? You can become a... a god by using Zombiepowder?" Elwood asked, eyes wide. Naroia paused before shaking her head.

"Not exactly. It's true that Zombiepowder grants immortality, but with that vast amount of life energy being pushed inside the body, it causes the body to become physically stronger, as well as nearly indestructible. There's too much life in the body for it to be destroyed by normal means."

"So, basically... it's impossible to kill someone until all that life runs out?" Elwood reasoned. Naroia smiled slightly.

"You catch on fast."

"Not all the time," Elwood answered. "I couldn't get it the first time Gamma told me about Zombiepowder and that stuff."

"Neither can a lot of people," Naroia said. "But, moving on... The Grinning Revengers reason that, if a person takes even a small dosage of Zombiepowder enough times, they can achieve perfect immortality and strength: godhood. The problem is, if Zombiepowder is used enough, the body cannot take the massive amounts of life being pushed in, and has to get rid of it somehow."

Elwood had a feeling he was not going to like what happened next, but he swallowed the revulsion rising in his throat and asked the last question he wanted to hear answered...

* * *

"And what question would that be?"

Koren paused, staring into Gamma's face and scowling.

* * *

"What happens?" Elwood asked.

Naroia looked down, then locked eyes with Elwood once more.

"The body can't hold all the life inside, so it destroys itself from the inside-out. Until nothing is left."

* * *

"Were you or were you not an agent of the Grinning Revengers?"

* * *

Several things happened at once.

There was a loud crash from Estin and Smith's area of the campsite as two of the boulders fell, creating an open spot; both Gamma and Koren's group turned towards the source of the sound. Koren abandoned Gamma and picked up one of the fallen boulders effortlessly, throwing it over where Smith and Estin should be, covered by a cloud of smoke.

A resounding smash was heard over the clamor; Naroia stood as well as she reached for her pistol and fired six shots past the vapor, making contact with something. A shriek erupted from the darkness as she lowered her pistol and the smoke cleared, revealing Estin standing in front of Smith with what looked like a white plaster skull over his back like a shield.

The skull slowly shrank and formed into the bracelet around Estin's wrist as he stood and dusted himself off, offering Smith a hand. The man stood shakily.

"That was well-timed," he commented, looking down into the darkness as the others gathered around, Gamma and Elwood included.

"Might wanna get back a bit," Estin warned the others. Most stayed back, save for Gamma and Smith, standing side by side next to Estin (who didn't seem to mind their lack of obedience) as they waited for another attack. Gamma raised his sword; Smith retrieved his pistols. All was silent. A flash of silver through the air caught Gamma's eye; he raised the edge of his blade—

A knife caught a bullet-shaped knick in the metal and split the blade near the top. Gamma's eyes widened as he fell backwards from the force of the blow, his mouth opening in a silent scream when he saw the two pieces of his sword flying past him. He landed on the ground with a resigned thud as Elwood rushed forward to help him. Smith fired at the unseen assailants while Estin popped his shield back up and braced it against himself as the attackers' bullets and knives collected in the plaster.

"Everyone get back!" he called. The others staggered back to a safe distance, Elwood and Smith helping the still-shellshocked Gamma back up as the shield shrank into a smaller shape and the pressure around it built. Suddenly with a loud bang, the collected weapons flew out of the shield and towards the attackers with missile-like force, hitting the other canyon side with rapid-fire thudding sounds. All was chaos for a few moments, and then...

Silence.

All of them were panting heavily, watching for any more projectiles coming at them, but no shots were fired. Estin retracted his shield and stood, Gamma's group watching intently.

"Man, where do you guys get this stuff?" Smith asked. Estin smiled brightly.

"Let's just say we're not exactly morally-ambiguous," he said, skidding down the short side of the cliff with Naroia following without a word. Gamma, still slightly incoherent and clutching the hilt of his sword, removed himself from Smith and Elwood's grips and walked to the edge of the campsite, beckoning for the others to follow; Koren stayed behind as they peered over the ledge.

"You okay, you two?" Smith called. The man looked up in the dim light and gave him a thumbs-up.

"We're both okay. It seems like none of them were trying to shoot at me and you, Mr. Smith; more like they were shooting through the gap in between the two boulders. They almost got Mr. Akutabi, I'm afraid." Gamma's eyes subtly widened at the last statement, before Elwood stepped forward.

"Just who are they, anyway?" Elwood asked.

"Scouts, it seems," Estin said. Naroia nodded the affirmative, gently prodding at one of the bodies. "Judging by the emblems on their jackets, they're from the Grinning Revengers."

Gamma flashed Koren a smug look. "Well, there's your proof, Shalko. If I was affiliated with them, then why'd they try to kill me?" he said under his breath. Koren rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Whatever you say, Akutabi."

"Estin, if you wouldn't mind, we're coming down," Smith said, skidding down the cliff-face and landing beside the two Powder Hunters. Elwood and Gamma followed, the latter looking for the fallen piece of his sword as he went down. Koren stayed up once more, watching.

The three bodies were strewn on their sides, riddled with massive holes where Estin's shield had sent the bullets flying. One of them had a broken neck, the other a shot through the temple, and the third had no visible fatal injuries, but lay motionless all the same, a boulder lying close by. Gamma mentally chalked the last one's injuries up to sharp blow and internal bleeding from the impact of the boulder. He reached down and plucked a small band of cloth from the attacker's sleeve, a morbidly grinning smiley face leering back up at him in the faraway light of the campfire.

He could hear Naroia and Estin talking behind him, with Smith and Elwood asking questions, but something else diverted his attention. Just under the Grinning Revengers symbol, barely visible, was a set of characters that Gamma (unluckily, he knew in his gut) could read as easily as his second language.

"Hey," he said, stopping the chatter beside him. "Who exactly is this 'Kotsukai' person?"

Estin and Naroia stiffened, but it was ultimately the former who spoke, the others listening intently. "Kotsukai is the current leader of the Grinning Revengers. These men must've been his guards or messengers."

"Wasn't that man in an insane asylum somewhere?" Smith asked. "I remember seeing something in the newspaper."

Estin nodded. "But if these men were working directly under him..."

"Then he must be giving them orders," Gamma finished. He didn't register the others nodding, or Elwood's stunned expression, no matter how much the look of fear startled him. He was focused on the characters: "kotsu" was bone, and "kai" was... the ocean...

"_Water beats fire, Gamma! You lose again!"_

"Gamma?"

Gamma looked up from his daze to see Smith looking at him strangely. The others were already walking back up the cliff side; Elwood was looking back at them both, scratched up in places. This had been little more than a skirmish, but the boy looked exhausted. Gamma locked eyes with Smith.

"You okay?" the man asked, harkening back to his earlier days with Gamma, when he genuinely cared about his well-being. Those moments were rare nowadays, but Gamma was still too tired to care.

Gamma nodded. "'M fine. Just need some sleep is all." Without a word, he climbed back up the cliff, helping Elwood along until they got to the top and stealing a glance of Smith behind him. The man turned to the bodies and retrieved his pistols, and Gamma looked away. He knew that by tomorrow, the corpses would be gone.

Even as he settled down onto his cot as far away from Koren as possible, watching Elwood fall asleep and Smith come back an hour or so later, Gamma couldn't sleep. He clutched the cloth in his hand, thinking back to the village he had grown up in; he'd have to go back there, sooner or later... he'd really have to now, to get his sword fixed up. His eyes snapped open in the dark as he reached for his sword's hilt and zipped it up in its bag; there was little over half a meter left of one and a half meters of sword, and he knew that that would take a while to repair.

His blacksmith would be furious, he thought, and chuckled to himself, then frowned. She'd probably cry, too. Maybe. Matsuri was just an unpredictable kind of girl.

He would have to go back. And all three of them'd have to go by train, as well. He sighed and rolled over, closing his eyes once more.

"_Geez, Gamma. Quit being such a worry-wart! It'll be fine, I promise!"_

Kotsukai...Was this Kotsukai person _really_ who Gamma thought he was?

* * *

A/N: More plot-relevant flashback snippets that reveal nothing! Muahahahaha!

*Ahem* Next chapter will be an interlude focusing on what's happening elsewhere during or shortly before the current storyline. I'm already in the process of writing it. Here's some info on Koren as well, since he's the first of the new trio to speak in-story. I've just now realized that he's eerily similar to Ignatius... maybe they'll meet up later on. I have a feeling they'll get along swimmingly. :)

**Koren Shalko**

**Height: 6' 4" (about 193 cm)  
Weight: 156 lbs (about 70.8 kg)  
Date of Birth: April 30  
Age: 24  
Blood Type: AB  
Birthplace: Hella, Northern Alliance****  
****Moody, temperamental, and one to hold grudges. Likes all kinds of candy, but lollypops in particular. Does not like much else. Dislikes a number of things, most notably the Grinning Revengers and Gamma. **


	5. Interlude I: Amore e Morte

**EDIT (7/23/11)**

Hey there! I'm not dead! :D

So basically I just edited the latter half of this chapter, but a line of dialogue is tweaked with in the first part due to a change of the language used. Enjoy!

* * *

**Amore**

* * *

All the sky's clouds had turned a faint shade of violet when the Indrik mountains were silhouetted against the setting sun. The three set down their sacks and draped blankets over the frosted ground, dropping to the grass like stones. The youngest of the three, sighing and stretching his sore muscles, removed his hat and hummed quietly under his breath.

"It's been a while since I felt wind this cold," he murmured. The tallest of them nodded and grunted in affirmation.

"I like cold. 'S bracing."

"Only a North-y would think 10-degree wind chill is _bracing_," the youngest spoke, a distinct smirk to his voice.

"Shut up, Estin."

"What? I'm just saying that you're a _freak of nature_ for liking-"

There was a rush of fabric against fabric as the older one sat up, fury in his yellow eyes. "_Ma__ŭč__y, syn-_!"

"Be silent, both of you!"

The two men immediately fell quiet, focusing on the lone woman of their party, who was twirling a pair of red spectacles between her fingertips, watching the two of them.

"I was wondering when you'd speak up, _é__desem_," Estin Haile said, tipping his head back to look at her, grinning even as Koren Shalko held him by his collar.

Naroia Altair frowned at the term of endearment. "I've told you not to call me that, Estin."

The man smiled. "That'd normally stop me, but…"

"It doesn't?"

"Yup." Koren abruptly released Estin, letting him fall to the ground with a loud thump. "… Ow."

Naroia's expression betrayed an infinitesimal amount of pity, before she turned to Koren and it melted into uncontrolled fury. "And how many times have I told you not to speak Hellan when I'm _right in front of you_?"

"_Š__mat._"

"Not the answer I was looking for."

Koren huffed in irritation. "_A lot_. Happy?" He turned and fell back onto his blanket, turning away from the group.

Naroia watched him for a moment or two before standing and putting her glasses on. She walked to Estin, still sprawled on the ground, and offered a hand to him; the man smiled warmly and gripped her hand as a drowning man would a lifeline.

A few minutes later, while in the process of finding firewood, Estin spoke up.

"Koren's being a bit irritable tonight, isn't he?"

"He's always irritable," Naroia answered, hefting an old log onto her back.

"Yes, but… tonight he's more so than usual."

Naroia gave him a sidelong glance that he managed to miss before closing her eyes and exhaling quietly. "He's just stressed right now. You of all people should be familiar with stress."

"And yet he had the balls to talk in Hellan to your face?" Estin said flintily, meeting her eyes at last.

Naroia pursed her lips and continued to search for firewood. "What happened in Hella is my business. You'd do best to keep out of it."

"I'm trying to make you feel better here, 'Roia."

"You're not succeeding."

"Look!" Estin snapped, whipping his head around and facing Naroia. "I know you don't like the fact that Koren's always in your face—hell, neither do I—and I just…" He dropped the rest of his firewood on the ground and reached forward, gripping Naroia's shoulder as she turned to meet him halfway. "… I just want you to know that…" His face suddenly softened. "… that I'm worried."

She glanced at the hand on her shoulder and met his eyes with an unreadable look on her face. "Then that makes two of us."

He blinked. "You're worried about yourself?"

"Not about me."

It took a moment for Estin's brain to fire on all cylinders. "Then…"

"I'm worried about Elwood." She walked away, letting his hand fall, and slackened her hold on the log as it hit the ground with a heavy thud that knocked snow off of a nearby tree and left Estin quite befuddled.

"Elwood…" He had to think for a moment. "… Wait, that one kid from the other night?"

"Obviously."

"… Why him?" he asked.

"Three guesses, and the first two don't count," Naroia quipped.

Once again, a pause for Estin to think. "… He reminds you of… your_self_?" he asked uncertainly, waiting for Naroia's response as she gave him her usual blank stare.

"… Close enough," she said, gripping the log under her arm. "Hurry up. Koren'll still have a stick up his ass when we get back."

Estin's face was blank. "Akutabi wasn't in the GR after all?"

"What else could anger Shalko that much?"

"Touché," Estin laughed, picking up the sticks he had dropped and following after her. They were silent for another long moment before he spoke again. "Y'know, I wasn't kidding. When I said I was worried."

"I know," she said, without turning.

Another pause. "I wasn't kidding when I called you 'sweetheart,' either."

It was Naroia's turn for her mind to reboot, and when she spoke, the blush in her voice was almost tangible. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"A lot," Estin said, smiling. "I'm just one not to listen, more often than not."

She looked behind her, right into his eyes, and Naroia Altair gave him the slightest little smile. "You'll be the death of me one day."

Estin grinned. "Don't count your chickens."

And, as he walked back to camp, helped arrange the defensive wall of boulders, and nicked a lollypop or two from Koren's stash, Estin could only focus on how the wind chill had suddenly vanished into the night air.

* * *

**Morte**

* * *

Death, Tam Fiume was unfortunate to learn, carried a sword of blood and bones.

But it hadn't always been that way. No, Mr. Fiume, guard at the St. Donegal Psychiatric Hospital, was originally a very kind, gentle man. Suspicious, yes, but kind. Caring towards the prisoners he looked after. If they wanted something, something outside the list of "hazardous objects," he would ask for permission to give it to them, and always succeeded.

His only failure in this field was with the prisoner known only as KK-M51, in a cell at the end of the most dangerous block in the building. Fiume, being the kind, generous soul that he was, conversed with the prisoner and found, to his surprise, that the young man was as eager to talk as he was.

"It's been quite some time since I've seen a visitor…" KK-M51 glanced at Fiume's attire for a moment before grinning and saying, "But then, you're not really a visitor, are you?"

"'Fraid not," Fiume replied casually. "Just a guard."

KK-M51 paused a moment, his grin fading into a much more somber expression. "I see." In the light of the lantern that Fiume carried, he could have sworn he saw the prisoner's eyes flare red.

… But surely, that was just his imagination.

He continued to visit K-KM51 in the coming days, chatting about this and that; the state of the conflicts in Hella and Boste, current politicians, good musical shows that Fiume had seen, and (this was the prisoner's favorite subject, mind you) where the current Rings of the Dead were, and who had found them.

Fiume politely denied his interest in such things, but KK-M51 insisted.

"Are you sure? _Absolutely_ sure you don't know anything?"

Fiume nodded, and the look of disappointment on KK-M51's face almost startled him. The prisoner sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a ruddy deck of cards.

"Where did you get those?" Fiume asked cautiously; prisoners were supposed to be searched for any possible threatening objects before they were brought to the asylum. K-KM51 looked up at him through his lashes and smiled.

"Another guard was so kind as to leave these behind when he ended his services here. I just happened to pick them up, and…" he shuffled the cards in his hand and held them out to Fiume, "… I thought you might've wanted to play."

Fiume, sensing no danger—this had become quite a skill of his over his year of work—pulled a card from KK-M51's hand and read it: an ace of spades.

"Now put it back in the deck, if you would."

Fiume did so. KK-M51 shuffled the deck once more, and produced a card from the center, holding it out to the guard, who promptly took on an expression of shock. KK-M51 chuckled under his breath.

"I'm guessing that was your card?"

Fiume nodded, still a bit dumbstruck, and the prisoner chuckled again. "You can keep the card if you want. I don't need it."

"And why's that?" Fiume asked. KK-M51 stretched out on the floor of his cell, grinning and closing his eyes to the moonlight.

"That, Mr. Guard, is a closely guarded secret."

Fiume, sensing the conversation was over, turned to go, but a quiet cough told him otherwise.

"Also… do you think you could get me some tarot cards? Regular playing cards are nice, but they're not my forte."

And Tam Fiume, being a generous man, promised he would.

It was, as has been previously stated, the only time Fiume ever failed in getting a prisoner an item, and he couldn't understand why for the life of him.

When he asked why, and the head guard told him that KK-M51 was, in fact, a former serial killer, Fiume honestly couldn't wrap his mind around the idea. KK-M51, a killer? He didn't _seem_ insane. Not by a longshot. It just… it just didn't fit.

And so, against his superiors' best wishes, he went to the nearest game shop and bought a package of tarot cards.

KK-M51 was ecstatic, in his own way.

"I honestly didn't think you'd give these to me," he kept repeating, and Fiume detected a hint of an accent in the young man's voice. When asked about it, KK-M51 smiled wistfully and answered, "I was from the East, but that was… a different me, I guess you could say."

"A 'different you'?" Fiume asked, and it took KK-M51 some time to respond; he seemed to be choosing his words very carefully. At last, he gave up the ghost and smiled, his hazel eyes squinting into a foxy grin.

"I've killed people, Mr. Fiume."

And it chilled Fiume to the bone, the way he said it so nonchalantly.

"You…" Fiume's blue eyes widened slightly. "You're a… murderer?"

He stopped smiling. "You thought I wasn't?" he asked in a tone identical to Fiume's. "Honestly, Mr. Fiume, how many people here do you think _aren't_ murderers? That man over there," he pointed to the cell across from his, "was the instigator of the Bryin Brawl, in Santa Teresa. JB-M25—Jack Bryin, number 25 on the Murderer listing. Killed ten in the brawl."

Fiume's face lost its color as KK-M51 ratted off names, and the exact stats of the other prisoners as though he knew them by heart, as though he had collected their trading cards when he was young. Maybe he had wanted to be "one of them." Maybe that was why he was in this place, living out the rest of his life behind bars, having to listen to the crazed ravings of insanity echoing along the walls.

KK-M51 met his eyes once more, smiling… almost kindly, an emotion Fiume suddenly decided _didn't belong_ on the face of a known killer. And KK-M51 seemed to notice his discomfort.

"I can understand if you're frightened," he said, quietly. "This is exactly how I scared away the last guard assigned to this block. And… well, I had somewhat hoped the same thing wouldn't happen with you." He looked away. "I suppose I should apologize."

And Fiume, the kind man that he was, thought it over.

"You're forgiven," he said, and KK-M51 visibly perked up. "But… just remember that I'm not… I'm not the bravest person. So… could you tone the murder stuff down a bit?"

KK-M51 smiled and promised he would, and Fiume felt just the slightest bit better.

The next day, the better feelings were gone.

"He's having a bad day today," one of the nurses in the recovery ward told him, smiling sadly. "Poor dear; he was always so nice when I spoke to him, but every so often, he just…" She shook her head and walked away, tending to the other inmates.

Tam Fiume walked up the stairs to block 29, eyes firmly trained on the cell at the end, the cell that housed KK-M51. He approached the bars of the cell, expecting the worst; what if he started to scream? Did he have homicidal, maybe suicidal tendencies?

But it didn't seem that way when he reached the cell, going by the rather casual position that KK-M51 was sitting in, leaning against the wall and flipping a tarot card between his fingers. He glanced up when Fiume approached the cell and smiled, but turned away to look at a raven that had landed on the barred window over his head. And that was that.

Any attempt that Fiume made to talk to him was rejected with a shake of the head. He didn't say anything, but Fiume realized that conversation wasn't wanted nor needed that day. So, turning with a last glance to the prisoner as he continued to observe the raven, Fiume left and returned to his rounds.

The day progressed as usual. None of the prisoners acted up (save for one who tried to grab his uniform, but he had always been clingy), the few night visitor doctors to the asylum were cordial, and he had gained another day's pay. All-in-all, a good work day.

About a half-hour before his shift's end, whistling a catchy tune under his breath, Tam Fiume returned to block 29 and did a double-take at KK-M51's cell.

Jet-black feathers coated a small patch around the window, with a stream of blood leading down to the floor… a pool of crimson sat at KK-M51's feet; the man was standing upright, dragging his fingers against the wall, drawn-out, so that Fiume could almost hear nails scraping against stone…

He turned. And smiled. Red eyes shone in the dark. Burning. And turned back to the wall, tracing patterns against it like a child with paint, writing in blood upon the inside of his prison.

Fiume, not the bravest man, fled.

They had told him it was normal. That KK-M51 did this sort of thing regularly. _Regularly. _It was sickening, it was insane, it was—it was—

It was terrifying.

Fiume couldn't take it anymore; he asked for an immediate transfer to a different block, but his employer refused.

"We can't take anymore transfers," he had said solemnly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Fiume. You're the only night guard we have for block 29. So, until someone else decides to take the position…"

He didn't need to say anything else. "I'm all you have?" Fiume asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes. You are."

And so he went to work that night.

It was raining. Storming. Lightning cast shadows against the walls like cold white fingers, scraping against the stone amid ravens' calls-

_-Raven feathers, pools of blood—_

-that echoed across the complex. Fiume checked in on the prisoners along the hall, making sure nothing was out of place, as usual. No visiting doctors were here at this hour, or in this weather; experiments were cancelled on Sundays, and Fiume was quite thankful for this fact. Steeling his courage in a deep breath, he turned to KK-M51's cell and looked inside...

The blood had all been cleaned away, but the feathers remained; one floated towards him on a current of air from the barred window as a flash of lightning illuminated the feather and the cell for an instant and _oh dear God in heaven, it was—_

"Nice to see you again."

Something pressed against his throat, something sharp. His eyes turned to the right; a sword was lying there, against his jugular, and the wielder who had spoken smiled. Kindly.

"Mr. Fiume… I was afraid you'd forgotten me."

Tam Fiume swallowed.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, and KK-M51 leaned forward, resting his thin-fingered left hand on Fiume's shoulder.

Sticky. Wet. Blood.

"Only for you not to tell."

"I swear I won't, just please, _please don't kill me_, I need to—"

"You need to live?" KK-M51 asked. He leaned in again, this time letting his head fall onto Fiume's shoulder, removing his spider's hand. He pressed the sword tighter against the man's neck. "Who do you need to live for? Your family? Or are you just so selfish-" another push to his throat, "—that you believe your own life matters more than the countless others in this world?"

His voice was breathy, but the tone never changed from one that a lover would use. But to Fiume's ears, the voice's gentleness was obviously false, even if it sounded so, so true.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a knife.

"You know, Mr. Fiume, I knew what I was going to do with you the instant you took that card from my hand last week. An ace of spades. Do you know why I let you keep it?"

Fiume didn't say anything.

"_Do_ you?"

The slightest emphasis. Growing irritation.

Fiume shook his head, and KK-M51 chuckled.

It was the most terrifying sound in the world, at that moment.

"The ace of spades, you see, is an omen of death. I wanted that card would remind you that you are mortal. That your life can be taken at any moment. And that mine, _unfortunately_ for you, cannot."

The sword drew blood.

Fiume didn't give an inch.

With skill honed through years of training to guard the world's worst criminals, he lunged behind him, driving the knife into KK-M51's chest.

The sword stiffened against his throat as the prisoner slumped forward, coughing onto the floor and panting harshly; Fiume twisted the knife through his sternum, hearing a cry of pain eke out from KK-M51 before silence reigned.

The sword fell.

Where a clatter should have been was only a wet splatter, coating the ground with red liquid.

A sword of… blood?

"What the hell...?" Fiume said aloud. A hand suddenly clamped over his jaw, stopping all sound and smearing his face with blood.

"Didn't I say you couldn't take my life?"

Fiume, eyes wide with horror, looked behind him at the still very much alive KK-M51, smiling at him. But this smile was no usual smile of his.

It was wide, insane, terrifying, and in that instant, Fiume knew that his life had ended.

"This is where your story ends, Tam Fiume." He raised his hand; blood from the floor, unexplainably, formed from a splatter into a fully-formed knife, identical to the one still protruding from his chest which even now was healing.

"_Arrivederci, il mio sciocco_."

And Tam Fiume, a kind man, brave when it mattered and a coward when it did not, was lost amidst a sea of blood.

"Should we finish the job, milord?"

The man, coated in red, shook his head. "In time, Shu." He glanced behind him at the St. Donegal Psychiatric Hospital, a sizable hole in the wall nearest to him, and turned back to his followers, each holding a group of screaming nurses and helpless guards on chains.

_He_ would need to see the room, would need to hear the news. Burning the place seemed the most logical thing to do, so long as his room was left untouched.

He chuckled to himself before turning back to Shu. "Try not to burn block 29. Release the _patients_," he spat the word out, "on that block." He glanced at the nurses and guards. _Pleading _for their lives.

Pathetic.

He smiled sweetly. "You may kill the others, Shu."

His right hand's "yes, milord" was lost amongst the screams of terror.

He turned, mounted one of the steeds awaiting his arrival, turned away from the ruins of the asylum lit by lightning on a stormy night, and pulled his hood up (he couldn't let all the good blood go to waste, now could he?).

Riding away and listening to the cries of pain on the wind, the man formerly known as KK-M51 pulled a package of tarot cards out of his grimy asylum uniform. He immediately pulled out _The Tower _and surveyed the illustration. Top-notch artwork, if not extremely macabre. Slightly bloodstained. Just how he liked them.

Death, bloodstained on a rainy autumn night, sneered.

And Kotsukai sneered with him.

* * *

**A/N**: Translations! The title of this chapter is Italian: _amore e morte_ means "love and death".

Koren speaks Belarusian (Hellan) and says "shut up, you-" before he gets cut off. Later on, he says "a lot." Pretty self-explanatory. Also, don't ask me how to pronounce what he says. I've looked on lots of pronunciation charts, and the so-called "Latin symbols" on them are completely unreadable.

Estin speaks Hungarian (Középsan); his only line that's not English is "sweetheart."

Kotsukai is ethnically Japanese, but his phrase in Italian (Bexiaoan) is "Goodbye, my little fool."

If anyone who speaks those languages knows if I made a mistake, please give me better translations!

Please review if you liked it! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Estin Haile (pronounced HIGH-luh)

Height: 5' 10" (about 178 cm)  
Weight: 143 lbs (about 65 kg)  
Date of Birth: March 3  
Age: 20  
Blood Type: AB  
Birthplace: Ensio, Középsõ

Calm yet fiery; tends to switch between the two. Very young for a Powder Hunter, but he prefers people not mention his age. His favorite foods are lollypops and fresh fruit, but he won't touch durian (which Naroia loves). His parents and sisters (2 of them) are rather... eccentric.

Naroia Altair

Height: 5' 6" (about 168 cm)  
Weight: 134 lbs. (about 61 kg)  
Date of Birth: November 11  
Age: 22  
Blood Type: A  
Birthplace: Myr, Southern Islands

The daughter of two Powder Hunters; the glasses she wears are a family heirloom. She likes grilled meat and durian; she dislikes collard greens. She sees Elwood as something like a little brother, but is indifferent about Gamma and Smith. She dislikes people from Hella, but puts up with Koren only by force of will.


	6. Looking Out

**A/N:** As I said in the edit of last chapter, I live. Also, you may hit me with many frozen fishes for not updating in so long. But I'm really glad to have gotten to this point. :) And many, many thanks to all who have reviewed or enjoyed this story so far!

Disclaimer: Zombiepowder. is the property of Tite Kubo. I own diddly squat.

* * *

Chapter Five

**Looking Out**

* * *

It was quite a strange picture, in hindsight.

There they were, a barely-fourteen teenager, a dapper-looking man in a banker's suit, and a belligerent silver-haired convict, boarding a train and taking seats in a cabin all together.

Gamma Akutabi, per his request, got a window seat.

"I wanna be able to look outside for a few minutes before I pass out, dammit," he had grumbled, sitting down with the remains of his sword still zipped up in its bag resting on his lap.

Elwood Shepherd took the seat to his right, directly across from C. T. Smith; the former sat cross-legged and looked around the train cabin, while the latter idly flipped through a newspaper as the train suddenly lurched into motion, lowering the paper to face Elwood and mouth "any time now".

Sure enough, mere moments later, Gamma slumped in his seat as the train picked up speed, the chugging of the wheels lulling him off into a gradual, peaceful slumber.

Elwood looked at him, perplexed.

"Does he always do that?"

Smith smiled, seeing Gamma curled up in a ball by the window of their train cabin and clutching his sword bag like a child would clutch a teddy bear.

"Always," he answered. His smile grew wistful, but focused instead on Elwood. "He's been that way since his first ride, and he's never changed."

Elwood looked thoughtful at that, as though pondering a younger Gamma slumped against the wall of a train cabin, fast asleep. A smile crept across his face as he turned to the window, watching the dry scrub of Lodinant rolling past. Sooner or later, Smith knew, the scrub would be gone, replaced by the coastline and forest and gently sloping hills of Wakaku, albeit covered in a thin layer of frost and maybe snow by the time they reached their destination.

"Why do we need to go all the way to the East just to get a sword fixed, anyway?" Elwood suddenly asked, pulling Smith out of his musing.

"Gamma's sword is made of a very specific metal, and the only place that metal is used in the world is in Wakumachi." He paused. "That's Gamma's hometown."

"I kinda figured, considering you've told me that about five times already," Elwood deadpanned.

"… Really?"

"Yes."

"Huh," Smith murmured. "I don't remember that." But then, he didn't remember a lot of things; a small lapse of memory within the last few days was nothing compared to what he had experienced only a few years previous…

"… Mr. Smith?"

Once more, his attention was drawn to Elwood, and he waved away the boy's half-disguised concern with a smile. "Sorry. Just thinking, is all."

"You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Well, what did you think is up here?" he asked, pointing to his now de-hatted head. "A bunch of hot air?"

"I didn't mean thinking," Elwood said, his mouth in a fine line. "I meant just forgetting stuff out of the blue, or spacing out all of a sudden. Are you sure you're okay?"

Smith's response was instinctive and immediate and solemn. "Elwood, I'm going to say this only once, so remember it: Whatever problems I have at any given point in time are easily rectified and none of your concern. So—I'm being as gentle as I can with this, so don't give me that look—if you would, kindly drop it." His voice had grown kinder and far less harsh by the end of his speech, but there was still an undercurrent of gravity in his tone, one thick enough to let Elwood know that Smith was dead serious.

The boy nodded, glancing back out the window, the quiet chugging of the train along the tracks mingling with Gamma's gentle inhalations and exhalations.

Elwood could understand how Gamma always fell asleep on trains; the one time he had rode with his mother the short distance to a nearby town to visit his dad, who had been on business, he had fallen asleep the whole way back, and had to be carried inside and tucked into bed. Something about the smooth motion of the train was just naturally soothing…

But it was rare: so, so rare to see the fearsome Gamma Akutabi in such a moment of weakness, Elwood thought, as the rising sun shone against Gamma's unruly mane of hair, making it glow an unnatural silver. (Seriously, who _had_ hair like that, anyway?)

And for the umpteenth time since joining his group, Elwood's mind was consumed with questions: Why did Gamma become a Powder Hunter? How was he so strong? How did he and Smith meet…

Wait… hadn't he heard that somewhere before?...

"Mr. Smith?"

"Yes, Elwood?" Smith asked, lowering his newspaper once more.

"… When we were fighting Ignatius a couple days ago… you said something about 'before you and Gamma met up'."

Smith was silent, his face impassive.

"… What happened before you met up?" Elwood finished. It was a long, long time before Smith set the paper beside him altogether and faced Elwood.

"I met Gamma when he was… eighteen or so, I think," Smith said almost absentmindedly. "He was injured and covered in blood. Most of which I suspect was not his own."

Elwood could already tell he wasn't going to like this story, but some deep, dark part of him was listening with rapt attention.

"I found him, patched him up, and took him home." Smith paused. Elwood leaned forward in his seat, waiting patiently for Smith to continue.

There was a long, tense silence. Smith's impassive, absent-minded expression never faded.

"… And?" Elwood asked.

"And that's it!"

Elwood blinked. Twice.

"But you didn't actually _tell _me anything!"

"Yes, I did," said Smith. He looked immensely pleased with himself.

"So… so that's the whole story?"

"Well no, of course not!"

"Then why didn't you tell me the rest?" Elwood fumed.

Gamma suddenly shifted in his sleep. The cabin was silent for a few moments save for Gamma's quiet mumbling; he rolled over, settled into a new position, and fell back asleep. Elwood and Smith let out a collective breath, one that Elwood never knew that he had been holding and that Smith would be ashamed to say was only the slightest bit worried and shaky.

Smith ran a hand through his immaculate hair and turned to Elwood once more, smiling. "I felt it would ruin the surprise if_ I_ told you." He focused on Gamma once more, wistful. "It'll be a far better story when Gamma tells you himself."

Elwood's brow furrowed, eyes turning beseechingly to Smith. "… He trusts me with something like that?"

Smith's smile was kind. "He trusts you far more than you know, John Elwood Shepherd. And maybe someday, he'll summon enough courage to tell you so." Smith stood, grabbing his discarded paper on the way up, and walked to the door. "I'm off to the men's room, then." He left, shutting the door behind him.

Elwood's eyes lingered on him, then changed their course to Gamma, still sleeping on his side. The Powder Hunter's face was lax, calm, far gentler than it had ever looked when he was awake.

Elwood rubbed his arms and glanced out the window; it didn't look any colder, but it certainly felt that way. They were either moving north unexpectedly, or it was just really, really cold once one went east of Lodinant.

_But if I'm cold, then Gamma must be… _

Elwood shivered; whether from the cold or from Gamma's assumed chill he wasn't sure. He stood and retrieved his bag from the shelf above him, pulling out a long fleece blanket.

Gently,so as not to wake him, he laid it over Gamma as he slept.

* * *

—悲**—**_**sadness—**_絶望_**—**__**despair—**_糾弾_**—**__**blameblameblame—**_

… _A boy, young and slight, scarred from past battles he can barely recall, so frail-looking it was hard to believe he was almost fifteen…_

"_I can help you, if you want…"_

… _A tall woman, kind dark eyes and long long black hair, beckoning to him, smiling kindly…_

… _He, the boy, reaches out a hand and she takes it and pulls him away, farther and farther into the mangroves, an island where there once was not…_

"_Fei… I'm scared…"_

_Blood on his hands, staring at the man in the mirror, the man with the long long silver hair and cruel green eyes that look nothing like his own, staring into her eyes long after the last spark has left…_

"_You don't have to be."_

_She reaches up a hand, a dead hand, a hand that should not be moving, and whispers without a voice, opens her lifeless mouth, smiles through the rigor mortis…_

"_I'll always protect you. You don't have to be scared…_

"… _Gamma."_

_The dead woman pulls him down and he screams until his throat is raw and red and he knows everyone in the village can hear him so why can't they save him—_

-俺のせいだ_**—**__**my fault—**_俺のせいだ_**—**__**my fault—**_俺のせいだ—

"Gamma."

He opened his eyes. He was in the train cabin again, tangled in a mess of fleece blanket and white overcoat, his sword-bag in the right hand of C. T. Smith, staring at him and restraining him with his left palm.

"Are you okay?" Smith asked. It took Gamma several shaking moments to respond, his voice stopped in his throat by panting breaths.

"… Yeah. Spectacular."

"What was it," Smith said, no inflection nor curiosity in his voice.

"A bad dream, that's all. It's nothing, Smith," Gamma growled, shoving Smith away and sitting up. He glanced down at the blanket tangled around his body and frowned. "Elwood?"

Smith nodded. "Elwood."

Gamma looked away at something else. "Hey Smith…"

"Hmm?"

"Y'know, I've been thinking… about Elwood…"

"What about me?" said Elwood's voice; Gamma looked to his right and saw that the door was open and standing in it was Elwood, clutching a fish-shaped cake and two boxes of mochi.

Gamma was flummoxed for a moment. "Why do you have those?"

"Not even a 'hello'? How friendly," Elwood grumbled, handing the now-seated Smith a box of mochi and setting the other beside Gamma. "They're stocking up on Wakakuan food since we're getting close to the Diviner's Strait border."

Gamma blinked, then reached for the mochi with a slight smile on his face. "So we're pretty much home free, then…"

Home.

"_What… who are those guys…?"_

Smith's somber expression was gone, replaced by a smile that it seemed he only wore when he and Gamma weren't alone. "Pretty much, yes. Oh, how's your taiyaki, Elwood?"

"_Gamma, get out of here. Go!"_

"It's really good, actually; I didn't expect it to be so sweet, but…"

"_Please, anyone but him, take me, take me instead, please!"_

"… Gamma?" came Smith's voice from a long way away.

Gamma blinked back to awareness. "What?"

"You spaced out again." Smith's smile was gone; it seemed he was capable of not wearing it in Elwood's presence, after all. Elwood himself had frozen in the middle of biting into his taiyaki, watching expectantly as the tension between the two men rose. Gamma was, once again, rather perplexed and marginally irritated.

"So what if I did? What d'you care?" He opened the box of mochi, pulled out a sticky wad of the treat and popped it in his mouth, watching Smith through the corner of his eye all the while.

"You know," Smith said, and did not elaborate.

It was Elwood's turn to be perplexed now. "Okay, what. Are you guys. _Talking about._"

Gamma swallowed the last of the mochi in his mouth and gave Elwood a light glare. "One word: nunya."

"Of course," Elwood muttered. He bit into his taiyaki rather violently. "Don't tell the kid anything. And after I gave you that blanket, too..."

Gamma frowned. "What is it with you today, kid?"

"It's nothing!" Elwood pressed. His true thoughts were fixed on Smith's earlier conversation with him, and how no one told him _anything_ since the journey began. _Especially_ Gamma.

Gamma's thoughts were more fixed on what the hell Elwood's problem was, with the occasional reminder not to slip back into his memories of the nightmare, like he always had to do after such an episode.

Neither the untouched box of mochi nor the sword bag beside Smith had any thoughts to speak of. Smith had thoughts, but hiding them and filing them away had always been one of his numerous skills.

They were silent, the three of them, until the stopped train began to move. Gamma once more fell fast asleep, memories of nightmares long forgotten.

Smith stared out the window.

* * *

Elwood must have fallen asleep at some point because when he woke up, the cabin was dark without outside light, and Smith was nowhere to be found.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and squinting out the window into the night. Stars lit up the sky, frozen in their positions as the train moved on. It was a full moon that night, bright enough that it illuminated the countryside without the aid of light poles.

Elwood leaned toward the window; if he looked hard enough, he could see the outline of a huge mountain in the distance, with great sloping hills alongside it. They were passing a lake now, and the moon's reflection in it created little shards of white light against the water's surface. There were trees surrounding the lake, made bare by November's cold.

Elwood had seen few truly peaceful things in his life, but this was one of them.

He breathed in deeply, just taking everything in, and then stopped.

There were little dark figures along the bank of the lake, somehow keeping up with the train. Elwood leaned onto the window, curiosity peaked, and squinted into the dark of the night to get a better look.

He could see three figures, taller and wider in proportion than normal humans, with four undulating legs that pounded the earth, inaudible and yet deafening. Elwood was at once horrified and fascinated by the strange creatures, before moonlight shone upon them and illuminated where the horses following the train and their riders met and ended.

Elwood's face was now squished against the glass just watching them; horses were rare nowadays, and riders even more so, and so he kept his eyes on them.

The rider farthest front, an average-sized person (for Elwood couldn't tell gender from so far away) in a long black cloak, was tailed by a very tall woman with very obvious, very _bouncy_ female features that Elwood had trouble not staring at, and a much shorter person beside her. Elwood turned back to the one in front, staring at him through the glass and dark of night, and could have sworn he saw the him or her turn their head and look straight through the train window, right at him…

Smith took that precise moment to enter the room.

"Hello Elwood! I got some taiya—"

"_Did you see that_?" Elwood hissed, being sure not to wake the barely-sleeping man across from him.

Smith looked befuddled a moment. "I was getting some taiyaki-"

"I know you were getting taiyaki! That's not the point!" Elwood was breathing harshly now, furious and still a bit shaken.

Smith frowned. "… Just get some rest, Elwood. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"Why aren't you listening to me?"

Gamma muttered in his sleep, and Elwood abruptly shut up. Smith sat beside him with a heaving sigh, staring out the window dazedly as though he saw something that no one else could.

"Like I said, get some sleep," he said, turning back to Elwood. "We'll be in Wakumachi by morning."

* * *

The _Masamune Kajiya_ was a small, nondescript building nestled in the groove between a dojo and, of all things, Wakumachi's only school. Had one looked inside it at the time of its establishment and in the height of its popularity (circa the fifth year of the Second Age, when Wakaku and its surrounding areas were first opened to travel), one would have seen a vibrant, lively place, with a number of blacksmiths forging high-quality blades and weapons at every hour of the day.

Those days were long gone by the year Gamma Akutabi was born, but there he stood outside the door of the well-worn shopfront, Elwood and Smith behind him, sword held in hand like a fallen comrade and just as dear.

They all meandered inside, the ringing of a bell sounding their entrance. Gamma slung his sword bag over his shoulder and approached the counter.

He asked in Wakakuan, "_Is anyone in?"_

A young woman's—the shopkeeper's— voice rang out in answer, "_We're closed."_

Gamma grinned. "_Even for an old friend?" _

There was silence in the back, followed by the clatter of tongs being set down (or more likely dropped) and in rushed the shopkeeper, a woman no younger than twenty, covered in soot and cinders, hair messy and strewn across her wide green eyes.

She hesitated a moment. "…_ Gamma?"_

"_The one and only." _

The girl's eyes went wider and she swung her body over the front desk, landing softly in front of Gamma and staring at him as though he wasn't really there, like it was all a dream that she had to savor. There was nothing but silence between them for several moments, a silence that Smith knew not to break and that Elwood waited in impatiently, waiting for someone to move and start speaking in a language he could _understand_, at the very least.

The girl raised her arm suddenly, as if to embrace Gamma from her shorter position; Gamma reached down to do the same, grinning—

—And got punched in the face.

"_Son of a __**bitch**__, Gamma!"_ he heard her scream, easily lifting him up by his jacket collar and the strap of his sword bag. _"Think you could've __**called **__in two years, at least?"_

"_I was busy—_" Gamma tried to say, but the girl cut him off by dropping him back onto the floor.

"'_Busy', my ass!" _The girl seemed to think this enough punishment, brushing her messy bangs out of her face (though they fell back in a second later) and noticing that there were two other people at the door, one of whom looked extremely unnerved and the other who looked unnervingly calm.

She appeared to recognize the latter, however, and a rather frightening smile lit up her face. _"Smith!" _

"_Matsuri," _ Smith smiled. _"It's been a while, yeah?"_

"_I'll say," _said Matsuri. Her grin faded. _"I tell you, this last year's been terrible for business…"_ She looked to Smith's right and her frown changed to a look of vague puzzlement. Elwood was still standing there, now rather frightened of being punched much in the same way as Gamma. Matsuri looked back to Smith and said, _"So who's the kid?" _

Smith gave a light chuckle in response. _"He's new. We picked him up about halfway through." _

"_Huh,"_ she scoffed. _"Remind you of someone, Gamma?"_ She was staring at Elwood with a downright wrathful look in her eyes; Elwood could feel himself tremble.

Gamma picked himself up, glared at her, and said, _"Don't you say another word."_

There was a long uncomfortable silence. Matsuri suddenly lunged forward and picked Gamma up by his jacket collar, staggering a few feet toward the next room with him and said, _"So. Mind telling me how your sword broke?"_

They began to shuffle into the next room, Gamma leaning on Matsuri with all his weight, and Elwood heard a faint "Well…" as the _Masamune Kajiya's_ shopkeeper shut the door behind them.

Elwood gave Smith a shrewd look, one that asked "what just happened and why?" and Smith said nothing in response. He looked at his watch. About three seconds passed in relative silence.

There was an indignant burst of Wakakuan from the adjacent room, the sound of something being thrown and smashed, and Gamma's voice making what sounded like a rapid string of apologies and angry outcries. Matsuri's voice was louder than it all, drowning out the rest of the clamor, and Elwood could make out a few strings of Common Tongue phrases like "you ass," "I spent so much money," and, eventually, as things died down over a very gradual period, "But it'll cost you."

Elwood blinked. Smith, beside him still, gave him a very Smith-ish smile. "_This_ is why Gamma comes here."

"To get chewed out?" Elwood asked, eyes wide.

"No." Smith smiled almost fondly. "This is his home."

* * *

Matsuri Masamune held the two pieces of Gamma's sword in hand. She shook her head. "A _bullet_, Gamma? _Really_?"

Gamma shifted the ice pack on his cheek. "It was a very hard bullet."

"Of course."

They were inside the Masamune household, a sprawling complex outside the Wakumachi market. It had long since fallen into slight disrepair, but Matsuri's grandparents still worked there as caretakers while Matsuri herself ran the family business. She was currently in the midst of an examination of the damage dealt to Gamma's blade. Elwood sat across from her, nursing a cup of hot tea. Smith had left the room to find something to read several minutes ago; he cited his reason for doing so as "not wanting to see the carnage." Whatever that meant.

"Whatever that bullet and knife were made of, it had to have been unearthly," Matsuri muttered, turning the blade halves over in her hands. There was a clear indentation on the seam between one half's white and black sections near where the two halves met, where a bullet belonging to Laith Ignatius and a knife belonging to a Grinning Revenger had struck, coincidentally, at the exact same point. "I've never seen steel or iron pierce space iron before."

Elwood raised an eyebrow. "Space iron?"

"'S what the sword's made of, kid," Gamma said rather gruffly. "The black part of it, at least."

"And just about nothing can cut it, save for itself," Matsuri said. Gamma gave her a _look. _She sent it right back. "I don't make bullets."

"But you make knives."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Matsuri returned to the sword. "I make a lot of knives." She glanced up to Elwood and immediately bristled. "What're you looking at, half-pint?"

While Matsuri had a vague Wakakuan accent, she spoke Common Tongue well enough to intimidate Elwood with so much as a word. He clenched the cup of tea tightly. "Nothing… um…" he stuttered, but Gamma cut him off.

"Leave the kid alone, Matsuri," he muttered. "He's curious." Gamma gave Elwood a very pointed look, slightly quirked his mouth in what may have been a smile, and coerced Matsuri into continuing their conversation, this time entirely in Wakakuan.

They continued for what felt like a half hour and may very well have been before Elwood finished his tea and decided to explore the grounds. The halls of the manor were all rice paper screens and supports; the ceilings were high and angular, and gave the place a very open feel. Every square inch of indoor flooring was tatami or bamboo hardwood, cold under Elwood's bare feet due to lack of central heating. Elwood knew every room along the hallway opened up to a courtyard, but the doors to it were all locked.

At the end of the hall was an open room, devoid of beds and nearly devoid of the little decorations the other rooms had had. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust that seemed untouched. There was a musty, spicy smell on the air. On the far wall, sticking out against the barrenness of the rest of the room, was a small shrine with two sticks of freshly extinguished incense. A framed photograph rested on it, and Elwood kneeled down to its level and gave a sharp intake of breath when he saw who was in the photo.

There was a smiling black-haired boy in the center whom Elwood did not recognize, eyes nearly shut from grinning, with a brown-haired girl to his right and another boy to his left. The girl's eyes were green, bright like young leaves, and her bangs fell into her face—Matsuri, only looking far happier than Elwood had ever seen her. And the other boy…

It was _Gamma. _

There was no metal hammered into his right cheek, but the hair and dark green eyes were unmistakably Gamma's. His hair was only shoulder-length at that point, however, and Elwood marveled at the fact that it was silver even at that age; none of the children looked a day over ten. He had a _bashful_ smile on his face. The present day Gamma was all but unrecognizable when compared to his younger self.

At the bottom, engraved into the frame, were a series of Wakakuan characters, two of which seemed vaguely familiar. Elwood suddenly got the sense that he was intruding on something private.

"_He trusts you far more than you know, John Elwood Shepherd. And maybe someday, he'll summon enough courage to tell you so."_

He brushed the excess dust off of his knees and stood, leaving the room behind. When Gamma was ready, he'd tell him about the photo.

* * *

That night, everyone gathered in the main dining room for a dinner of fresh fish on rice. Elwood all but passed out afterwards; there were only so many glares from Matsuri and different bowls of seafood and rice that a growing boy of fourteen could take (and Matsuri's grandparents, despite their friendliness, really didn't make much sense due to the language barrier), and so he fell asleep almost instantly.

He woke up to the sound of people talking, hushed and quiet, through the rice paper wall behind his head. He rubbed his eyes dazedly and looked around the moonlit room; he was alone.

"… only a boy_…"_

Elwood turned back to the wall abruptly. That was Smith's voice, quiet and more angered than Elwood had ever heard it.

"… think I care? He needs to know_…"_

Elwood pressed his ear to the wall, hoping to catch the rest of Gamma's sentence. But Gamma had already moved on, and now Matsuri was speaking:

"If you're going to teach him anything, he needs the mettle for it."

"And?" retorted Gamma.

"He's all slag, Gamma. Nothing useable."

"He's not a sword, Matsuri! The kid deserves to know how to fight and if you won't do it and Smith won't do it, then..."

For a moment, Elwood couldn't breathe. And then very quickly remembered that he could and this time forgot how to stop.

"The last thing we need's more fire in this house," Matsuri grumbled.

There was a very weighty pause. Gamma suddenly said, "Oh. So _that's _it, huh?"

"What's it?" asked Matsuri.

"You're just bitter, aren't you?"

"About what?"

"We both know."

"I've been bitter for the past two _fucking_ years, Gamma. In case you didn't notice." Another pause. "Oh, wait, that's right. You were with your _koibito_ that whole time, am I wrong?"

What had she said? Elwood pressed his ear harder against the wall.

"She's not part of this discussion," Gamma said.

Who was '_she'_?

"And as such," Smith interrupted, "we will not speak of her." Everyone abruptly went very quiet, even Elwood; he'd _never_ heard Smith speak like that, so cold and forceful. "Gamma?"

"Hm?" Gamma muttered.

"I cannot say it's what I would call wise. But I give you my blessings for the boy's training. May he not burn you to a crisp."

"Gee, thanks," Gamma grumbled, but there was mirth in his voice, and Elwood could once again barely contain his breathing. He heard shuffling of feet against tatami through the wall, and slowly, dreamily, went back to bed and covered himself with the blanket.

_Gamma_ was going to teach him _Karinzanjutsu. _A master of one of the Chain Arts was going to teach him how to fight.

He had wanted to be strong like Gamma, to learn from him. To grow more powerful so he could bring his sister back and, this time, protect her for _real_.

But this… this was so much more than he had anticipated.

But there was no way he was complaining.

And as Elwood fell asleep, he thought nothing of why Gamma, Smith, and Matsuri, three fluent speakers of the Wakakuan language, had bothered to speak in the Common Tongue at all.


End file.
